Divine Command Theory

Question 1

Divine Command Theory

Answer 1

DCT holds that morality originates with God

Question 2

Origins of the Euthyphro Dilemma

Answer 2

A dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro, set outside a court-house in Athens

Question 3

Basic Euthyphro Dilemma

Answer 3

Does God command things because they’re good or are things good because God commands them?

Question 4

Arbitrariness Problem

Answer 4

1. The idea that DCT is based on whims that God has
2. How does God decide what to command?
3. If morality depends on God’s decision what to command, then God’s decision what to command cannot be informed by morality
4. God’s commands can be neither informed nor sanctioned by morality

Question 5

Pluralism Objection

Answer 5

Different religions claim different Divine Command Theories - it’s not a universal belief

Question 6

Emptiness Problem

Answer 6

1. Statements like ‘God is good’ are thought to be useless
2. If DCT is true, then God’s will is the standard of moral goodness
3. God’s goodness is a different kind to our sense of goodness

Question 7

Issues with DCT

Answer 7

1. Other explanations are more rational or naturalistic

2. The Old Testament suggests that the theory is arbitrary

Question 8

What did Robert Adams argue with DCT?

Answer 8

Because morality is grounded in God, it cannot be arbitrary because it depends upon God’s omnibenevolence and whatever God commands is a reflection of this

Question 9

What are Julian Bagginni’s responses to Adam’s argument?

Answer 9

Adams just extends the problem rather than solving it

Question 10

Strengths of DCT

Answer 10

1. Consistent with religious belief

2. Takes responsibility away from humans

Question 11

The Euthyphro Dilemma (8)

Answer 11

1. If DCT is true then either morally good acts are willed by God because they are morally good or morally good acts are morally good because they are willed by God
2. If morally good acts are willed by God because they are morally good, then they are morally good independent of God’s will
3. It isn’t the case that morally good acts are morally good independent of God’s will
4. Therefore, it isn’t the case that morally good acts are willed by God because they’re morally good
5. If morally good acts are morally good because they’re willed by God, then there is no reason either to care about God’s moral goodness or to worship him
6. There are reasons both to care about God’s moral goodness and to worship him
7. Therefore, it isn’t the case that morally good acts are morally good because they’re willed by God
8. Therefore, DCT is false

Question 12

Where in the Bible can it be seen that God commands acts that would otherwise be thought to be morally wrong?

Answer 12

Exodus 11:2 - Plundering the Egyptians

Genesis 22:2 - Preparing to Sacrifice a Son

Question 13

What is the classis Christian response to the Euthyphro dilemma?

Answer 13

1. To ground goodness in God’s nature

2. It is God’s nature to do good, and God never acts contrary to His nature

Question 14

Examples of God’s goodness in Scripture

Answer 14

Psalm 34:8 - ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’

Psalm 107:1 - ‘Give thanks for the Lord, for he is good’

Question 15

Anticipated objections to DCT and responses to them

Answer 15

1. What if God’s nature changes so that what is good by God’s nature becomes evil? - Malachi 3:6, ‘God is immutable’
2. What about the times when God commands the Israelites to slaughter their enemies? - God is good but his nature also makes him just, God is a God who must punish sin and wickedness

Question 16

Independence Problem

Answer 16

1. The problem that the first answer that the theist might give to the Euthyphro dilemma appears to entail that moral facts hold independent of God’s will
2. Cannot answer the Euthyphro dilemma
3. Moral goodness would be independent of God’s will and DCT would be false

Question 17

What did Robert Adams say in regard to DCT?

Answer 17

‘Any action is ethically wrong if and only if it is contrary to the commands of a loving God’